Prep Your Home For Real Estate Photography

Boost the quality of your real estate photos by prepping your home in advance using this list of simple ideas.

As a photographer, the last thing you want to have to do while you’re taking photos of a property, is spend time cleaning and organizing. Sure, a little bit of that is fine and often necessary to get things just right for a picture, but it would be so nice to be able to walk through a home concentrating on making the images look great, without having to redecorate or touch a single light switch or even open the blinds.

Using this checklist, all these things can be accomplished by the homeowner, in the days before the photo shoot is scheduled.

The photo-shoot will take no more than 2 hours. I will be photographing both the inside and outside of the home, all of the major rooms, and he garage.

If you have special features of your home that are not obvious please let me know about these so I include them in the shoot.

1. The day before the shoot, park your own car(s) directly in front of your house to block the area so nobody else can park in that spot. Then you can move your cars when the photographer is ready and we’ll get an unobstructed view of the front of the home. 

2. All vehicles, bikes, boats and RV’s should be moved out of the driveway.

3. If the insides of closets are going to be photographed, they need to be uncluttered and organized so as to show the walls and shelves nearly empty – not packed full with personal belongings.

4. An overly crowded living room does not allow buyers to properly visualize the space, so pack up and remove unnecessary items and furniture to create a much more open feeling.

5. If there is a large TV or projection screen, pause a nice still image on it. Moving images will cause problems and having the unit turned off also doesn’t look good as it presents a large black block that is often a source of glare. Find a good still image from a nature scene that is pretty, but not distracting. Doing this can sometimes take 30 minutes or more, so please plan ahead and have it ready before we arrive.

6. Contain pets in a place where they do not have access to the areas where we are working – preferably out of the house.
7. Move garbage cans out of sight.
8. Remove all garden tools from the yard including hoses and sprinklers.
9. Mow and rake the yard then sweep off driveways, sidewalks and patios.
10. Clear off counter tops in kitchen and bathroom areas of all personal items.
11. Remove photos, notes and papers from the refrigerator.
12. Turn on all interior lights.
13. Turn ceiling fans and televisions off.
14. Open or raise the blinds to provide an open view to the outside.
15. De-clutter rooms which may be excessively furnished. Create a scene that is open and bright.
16. Make all beds and tidy bedrooms. All personal clothes should be removed or at least hung up neatly and put away.
17. Remove all books, newspaper and magazines.
18. Tuck trash cans out of view in a closet or cupboard.
19. Let me know if your home contains valuable works of art and I can edit to make these items unrecognizable.
20. Just as a general concept, the goal is to remove anything that is personal from the home. Prospective owners tend to relate better to a house that appears as a blank slate, as if they are the first to own it.